Weston Magnum 40
 

G'day all

I have taken on board your advice with regard to Extra .36. I have been looking in to the Weston Magnum 40, which seems like a reasonably well designed aircraft meant for speed. I am planning on getting a new Jett .50 with pipe, Do you think this is a reasonable combination? What will I have to strengthen in the Magnum to make sure it is ready and the motor does not attempt free flight a-la the thread on the Vipers?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thankyou

Hughie

RE: Weston Magnum 40
 

Yes it is, quite a few people fly Magnums on Jett .50's, and they will pull it about as fast as the West .50/pipe combo. The ariframe is fine as is, BUT, please use some better quality control horns than they provide, and as well I would beef up the joining plate that couples the two elevator pushrods to the elevator servo. And handful of Magnums have been lost to linkage failure due to the oft-typical crap hardware supplied. Use strong servos to eliminate them from the equation, though yes you can use standards, but why when you can get 80-90 oz-in or so for pretty cheap. That's just my opinion.

When you say Jett .50 with pipe, do you mean side exhaust with tuned muffler, or rear exhaust with a pipe? The Magnum is set up more for side exhaust engines, but I imagine you could put a rear exhaust with pipe in there with some minor mods. The west .50V1 that Weston makes for it is side exhaust with a fair offset to the header to clear the fuselage. I bouhgt two airframes when I got mine, as I wanted to fly the first stock, then modify the seond by making a new canopy/turledeck to accomodate a RIRE engine with pipe. I don;t know if I will bother now, as while it flies fine I am not in love with the flying characteristics.

The other option for you is to go with an ARF Quickie. Apart from the firewall report posted here recently, in general with a few simple upgrades (which have been posted here umpteen times) the Viper or Predator make great sport speed airframes, and your .51 will haul them quite nicely. Plus they turn well and have landing gear. Magnums as yuo may know, do not go anywhere near as fast as Weston would have you believe, and you might be just as happy with a Quickie. Mind you, the Magnum looks reasonably cool, although I hate yellow and black because I don't think it gives half as much visibility as one might think.

MJD

RE: Weston Magnum 40
 

If you just want to go fast get a Viper or Predator and do the very minor upgrades. You will need new underwear!

The Magnum is a super cool model IMO just not worth spending that much when, as stated before, you can go a lot faster easier and cheaper with the quickies. One of my fav things about the Magnum is the cool whistle noise it makes. If I could get my quickies to make that noise I would be tickled.;)

RE: Weston Magnum 40
 

Thanks guys, I will give it some thought, the only thing is I am not really in love with the V-tails and Delta wings, I really would like a classically designed aircraft. I was thinking of using a FIRE engine, however they seem only to be practical with the Deltas, and as I said, Deltas no good to me.

If I really wanted to spend some dollars is there anything else you could recommend? Maybe in the Q-40 class with the paper thin wings? I imagine they would be quite a handful. I have plenty of sport and F3A models, So I am not terribly interested in how it handles, I just want to scream down the runway at a trillion miles an hour before sweeping out in a nice big turn and repeating all over again.

Let me know, i will keep looking. Thanks again.


As a side not can you Mod the weston for a tail dragger and rudder? or is space an issue?

RE: Weston Magnum 40
 

Don't let the v-tail scare you off. It was no problem to work. Get a quickie you will be very happy for a hundred bucks.

RE: Weston Magnum 40
 

Its not that I am concerned with the functionality of the aircraft, it is merely that the look does not appeal to me, that and they are as common as chopped fingers on inverted motors...

In my quest for speed, I would also lke to keep with a classically designed aircraft, hence I am steering away from the V-tails and the Deltas.

As I was saying before, perhaps something in the Q-40 class? although they seem to be quite expensive they are a very attractive aircraft.

Thanks anyway, please keep the suggestions coming

RE: Weston Magnum 40
 

How about some of the jets from [link=http://www.nitroplanes.com/f4j.html]Nitroplanes.com[/link]?

I just finished a Bob Cat 50 with a Tower .75 and retracts.

Blessings, Terry

RE: Weston Magnum 40
 

- The Magnum will do that just fine. As a low aspect ratio wing on a small heavy-ish airframe it turns just like you describe.

- Yes you can, but why the rudder for that kind of flying? You could search here for the Rifle and read up on that aircraft. Except it is a V-tail, otherwise quite similar.

Vicman.. that's the sound of drag.. [:'(] :)

RE: Weston Magnum 40
 

Hughie 42:

I'm with you as to looks of the V tail. You can go with the standard tail feather design with the Viper ect. with no problem, think it is a alternative in the current Viper kit. Note that all Jett engines are not created equally. The L series is their typical sports engine, the LX series is what you want. Its good for another 1,000 or more rpm without loosing idle and transition superior qualities of the Jett, about a $25.00 extra. Now, the Quickee wing is not a paper thin 10-12% wing, generaly its semi-semetrical. Its a great wing design that allows high speeds and will still slow down almost as well as a sports model. The typical 52" span is well more lift for the model neads when around 4 lbs. With a 35 power home brew airframe, I cut them down to 40" and streemline the nose. With the 60LX, I cut the wing down to 45" with no ill effects for landing This one was scary fast and I lost it with a very quick glance down to see where my trim was. Gone in a moment. The next design I have, left a composite wing with the full 52"; fatter and deeper fuse, still needle nosed. This one is still fast, keeps up and/or passes most quickees around. It's intended to be user friendly, and it sure is. I can start her up, taxie out and take off and land as with any other sport model. It will do anything a typical sports airframe will, and still scoot when the throttle is pushed forward. The original prop is still on it and sound. 4 point rolls, no problem, inside and outside loops and related pattern manuvers just fine. It will even hover for a while, but not able to get torque rolls in hover yet. The general quicke design is a supprising sport flyer when set up with some descent dual rates. I start at 3/8 high rate with 60% expo, and drop to 3/16 or so for WFO. Club's newest hot thing is a LR-1 with Jett Quickee 40. My 60 is in for minor repair (I hope), will find out if I can outrun the LR-1 under race conditions later this month, suspect I can, with ease. When speeds are near equal, its the better airframe and pilot will generally come in first. Am giving away some 30+ years in reaction and eyesight, but will still give it a good go. There is a little something to the "Old age and tretchery will overcome youth and skill" thing. (maby) Try one. The Jett 50 LX is good, the 60 LX is my current favorite engine of all time. My 5 year old 35 still is quite willing and strong. ENJOY

RE: Weston Magnum 40
 

Racers are set up pretty soft as they dont need a lot of deflection to get around a corner, & from what I have flown are pretty easy to fly in a big circuits. BBR's new GR7 is really nice, & definately 1 to look at.

Tony